Top Retailers

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — "American Idol" sensation Crystal Bowersox will deliver an acoustic performance at the second Walk with Walgreens Family Fun Day and Health Fair, to be held March 24, the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation announced Friday.

CINCINNATI — Kroger announced that Tim Brown now will be responsible for stores in western Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri as president of the company's Delta division.

Brown, 52, has been VP operations in the company's Delta division, based in Roanoke, Va., since 2011; before that, he served as the Mid-Atlantic division's VP merchandising since 2009.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — There is power in information. There is even more power in that information when it is conveniently available at the precise moment it is needed — in this case, during one of a patient's increasingly time-crunched appointments with a general healthcare practitioner. Today more than half (52%) of all office-based doctors are using that Surescripts network to streamline and help manage the prescriptions they write, which is connecting them to 94% of all retail pharmacies.

NEW YORK — Walgreens might be willing to acquire Rite Aid if it can't settle an ongoing contractual dispute with one of the country's largest pharmacy benefit managers, Walgreens' former CEO said in a conference call with investors Monday.

Interviewed by Credit Suisse analyst Edward Kelly, former Walgreens CEO Jeff Rein suggested that Walgreens' board "would have the stomach" to buy Rite Aid if it doesn't reach an agreement with Express Scripts, as buying Rite Aid's nearly 4,700 stores would give Walgreens considerable leverage against the PBM.

MINNEAPOLIS — Target has completed its $10 billion share repurchase program.

The program, which was authorized by the retailer's board of directors in November 2007, represents the repurchase of 193.5 million shares, or nearly 23% of its outstanding shares from that time period, at an average price of $51.68 per share.

Target will continue to repurchase shares under the $5 billion program approved by its board of directors in January, which it expects to complete in the next two to three years.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — A miniature version of the spike in stock market activity that followed speculation about the prospects of a Walgreens-Rite Aid merger happened on Drug Store News' website as a quick writeup about the potential deal became the most-read story on the site.

(THE NEWS: Reports: WAG-RAD merger speculation drives RAD stock to four-year high. For the full story, click here)

NEW YORK — The Ethisphere Institute's sixth annual selection of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" included several of the nation's top retailers.

Among this year's list of 145 organizations, Ethisphere — which describes itself as a leading international think-tank dedicated to the creation, advancement and sharing of best practices in business ethics, corporate social responsibility, anti-corruption and sustainability — included Costco, Safeway, Target, Wegmans and Whole Foods.

NEW YORK — During the 2011 holiday season, the top retail applications and websites combined — including Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Target and Walmart — reached nearly 60% of smartphone owners, according to Nielsen.

“The majority of smartphone owners used their devices for shopping this past holiday season,” said John Burbank, president of strategic initiatives at Nielsen. “Mobile shopping has reached scale and is only going to grow as smartphone penetration continues to rise.”